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26.2.13

Phonoburbia - On Our Bottoms EP | Elusive Little Comments

When: 28th February 2013

Where: Tree Machine Records

Outof10: 6.0/10

Phonoburbia is a
post-grunge band from Argentina
and this is their On Our Bottoms EP, a fine way to experience the four-piece
before they release their first LP on Tree Machine Records. With similarities to
Nirvana, Cloud Nothings and Green Day these guys seem to have a pretty
accessible sound bringing forth a lot of modern Indie and Punk elements into
the nostalgic sound of the 90s.

This EP opens with Now, a track with an explosive intro
comprised of heavily distorted guitars and crashing drums that’s certainly
going to leave us On Our Bottoms. With the track coming and going with loud and
quiet parts it’s your standard grunge song done really well.

On Our Bottoms remains an
entertaining and varied listen for its duration with tracks such as Monotonous Dreams offering a more
acoustic route with its slow yet catchy tempo. The group vocals give off a more
drone-y feel which unfortunately doesn’t give much room for the track to mix
things up, but still remains a good way to break up the EP a little.

Closing track Fragile is a fast paced goodbye and a
brilliant way to end On Our Bottoms on a high note. To me Fragile sounds like Phonoburbia decided to not care about ticking
those grunge guidelines and just go all out with ballsy guitar riffs and even a
pretty sweet breakdown. The energy is huge on this track, and it makes me
wonder why these guys saved it all til now, but it paid off I guess.

Y’see On Our Bottoms is
an entertaining EP with some good tracks but it’s the similarity to Nirvana
that hurts it. Sure I mean everybody loves Nevermind
and it is a fantastic album but that doesn’t mean everybody should be striving
to show how much they enjoyed it via their own music. If Phonoburbia had taken
the time to map out their influences and create a sound that’s a little more
original then I wouldn’t have to blow my brains out wondering who I’m listening
to, but nevermind.